Automatic shuttle-controlling mechanism for looms.



M. PRUSSAK & 0.- 'PPBIFFER.- AUTOMATIC SHUTTLE CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

I APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3. 1909.

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THE NORRIS PETERS co., WlSl-IINGTON, B1 c.

Patented May 2, 1911-.

' M. PRUSSAK & 0. PPEIPFER. AUTOMATIC SHUTTLE CONTROLLING MECHANISM on LOOMS. APPLICATION IILEDDBtL-B, 1909.

991,1 69. Patented May 2,1911. 2 anus-sum 2.

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AUTOMATIC SHUTTLE-CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, MARCUS PRUssAK, a subject of the Czar of Russia, and CHARLES PFEIFFER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Shuttle- Controlling Mechanism for Looms, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to that class of looms in which, as generally stated, are employed a lay, shuttle boxes on each side of the lay, picker staffs and means for operatin the picker staffs and causing them to pro ect shuttles from the shuttle boxes on one side of the lay across the lay and through the open shed of warp threads to the shuttle boxes on the opposite side of the lay, and the converse, in prescribed order.

During the operation of the loom, as is common and well known, when the picker stafi' on one side thereof operates to project a shuttle from an adjacent shuttle box to the opposite side of the lay, there should be an empty shuttle box on said opposite side to receive the shuttle; and, as is also well known, it sometimes happens that just prior to a picking operation a shuttle appears in each shuttle box on each side of the lay in line with the shuttle race or open shed, with the result that should the picking operation take place with the presence of the two shuttles, there would be a collision between them, thereby not only injuring the shuttles and parts of the loom, but also disturbing and breaking the weaving threads.

The object of our invention is to correct the foregoing defect by the provision of a novel, simple and efficient means whereby a picker staff on one side of the lay will be prevented from projecting a shuttle to the opposite side of the lay if there be no empty shuttle box on said opposite side to receive the shuttle, thus guarding against collision between the shuttles.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and particularly claimed.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a front view of part of a loom embodying our invention, showing the frame of the loom in section, and showing the lay and connected parts. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1, omitting the uppermost Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 3, 1909.

Patented May 2, 1911.

Serial No. 531,166.

horizontal bar of the lay. Fig. 3 is an e11- larged detail of a portion of one of the rock shafts and one of its arms and adjuncts. Fig. 4 is an elevation of one pair of arms for operating one of the picker staffs and adjuncts, detached. Fig. 5 is a view of the parts shown in Fig. 4 as seen at right angles thereto.

5 designates the frame of a loom and 6 the lay, the lower portion of which is pivoted to the side members of the frame 5 by means of shafts 7, the lay being adapted to be moved back and forth to beat up the weft or shuttle threads after they have been projected through the shed of warp threads by the operation of the shuttles in the usual well known manner. Arranged on each side of the lay 6 is a set of shuttle boxes 8. Each set of shuttle boxes 8 is mounted to be adjusted vertically on the lay to bring any one of the boxes of either set into alinement with the shuttle race bar 10 of the lay 6, in the usual well known manner.

The lay 6 is provided with a suitable picker 11 adjacent each set of shuttle boxes 8, which is mounted to reciprocate horizontally upon a rod 12 of the lay. Each picker 11 is provided with an arm 13 positioned to engage a shuttle in the adjacent shuttle box in alinement with the shuttle race bar 10 and project the shuttle over the bar 10 and through the shed of warp threads and into an empty shuttle box on the opposite side of the lay in the usual manner. Each picker 11 is connected to a picker staff 14 the lower end of which is pivoted as at 15 to a bracket 16 on the shaft 7 of the lay, whereby when either picker staff 14 is reciprocated, its picker 11 will also be reciprocated to project a shuttle, as previously described.

Each shuttle box of each set 8 is provided with a shuttle binder 23, having a flaring portion 24, as shown, and having an outer end pivoted as at 25 to the shuttle box and being adapted to be moved on the pivot 25 into and from the position occupied by a shuttle when in the box. The arm 23 is pressed normally into the shuttle box by a suitable spring 26. When there is no shuttle present within the shuttle box, the arm 23 occupies a position within the box, the shuttle engages the flaring portion 24 of the arm 23 and moves the arm outwardly against the action of the spring 26.

In the drawings we have shown a shuttle 31 present in the shuttle box on the left hand side of the loom, which is in alinement with the shuttle race bar 10, showing the arm 23 in the outer position to which it was moved and in which it is retained by the shuttle 31; and we have also shown the shuttle box which is in alinement with the shuttle race bar 10 on the opposite side of the loom, empty to receive a shuttle, the arm 27 being pressed into the shuttle box by the spring 30.

Adjacent each picker staff 14 and extending at right angles to the direction of motion thereof, is the usual shaft 32, by the aid of which the picker staff is operated. Each shaft 32 is mounted in suitable bearings on the side members of the loom frame 5, and each shaft 32 is provided with an arm which is adapted to be engaged by a roller 72 carried by an arm 74, which projects from a driving shaft 76. During the turning of the shaft 76, the rollers 72' strike the arms 70 and rock the shafts 32 in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, for the operation of the picker staffs, as will be hereinafter described.

By mechanism which we shall now proceed to describe, the operation of the shafts 32 causes the operation of the picker staffs 14, to project shuttles from side to side of the lay 6, the operations of the picker staffs being automatically controlled by the pres ence or absence of shuttles in the shuttle boxes on the two sides of the lay which are in alinement with the shuttle race bar 10 thereof.

Loosely mounted on each shaft 32 is a rocker arm 34 to which one end of a lug strap 35 is pivoted, the other end of said strap being connected to the adjacent picker staff 14, as shown. Arranged adjacent each arm 34 is a rocker disk 36 which is fixed to the shaft 32. Each arm 34 is provided with a lateral projection 37 positioned to be engaged by the disk 36; and each arm 34 is also provided with a pawl 38 which is adapted to drop by gravity into engagement with a tooth 39 formed 011 the disk 36. The projections 37 and the pawls 38 are so arranged with relation to the disks 36 and their teeth 39, that when the pawls 38 are in engagement with the teeth 39, the disks 36 will engage the projections 37, thereby causing the rocker arms 34 to be oscillated with the fixed disks 36 when the shafts 32 are rocked back and forth. When the pawls 38 are raised from engagement with the teeth 39 the fixed disks 36 may be oscillated with the shafts 32 independently of the arms 34. It therefore follows that each time either of the shafts 32 is oscillated, while the pawls 38 are in engagement with the teeth 39, the disks 36 and therewith the arms 34 will be oscillated in a manner to operate the picker staffs 14 to project shuttles from the shuttle boxes; and that when the pawls 38 are raised from engagement end of which is connected to one arm of abell crank lever 41 which is mounted in a bracket 42 on the bottom of the bar 10 of the lay. Each crank lever 41 is connected by a rod 43 to one arm of a bell crank lever 44, which is mounted in a suitable bracket 45 on the bottom of the bar 10 of the lay. The other arm of each bell crank lever 44 is bifurcated, as shown, and embraces an arm 46 which projects from a rock shaft 47 mounted in suitable bearings 48 on the bottom of the bar 10 of the lay. Each rock shaft 47 is provided with an arm 49 which extends to a position adjacent the outer face of the arm 27 of the adjacent shuttle box, which is in alinement with the shuttle race bar 10. The upper end of each arm 49 is pressed normally into engagement with the adjacent arm 27 by the action of a suitable spring 50 surrounding the shaft 47 and having one end engaged with the bearing 48 and the other end engaged with the arm 49. It will thus be seen that as the arms 27 are moved into and from the shuttle boxes by shuttles leaving and entering the same, the arms 27 will be moved in and out, and the arms 49 will be moved back and forth, thereby rocking the shafts 47 back and forth.

When a shuttle enters a shuttle box on one side of the loom, it moves the shuttle binder 23 outwardly, thereby causing it to act upon the adjacent arm 49 to turn the shaft 47 against the action of the spring 50 and raise the arm 46, thereby operating the bell crank lever 44 in a manner to draw upon the rod 43 and operate the bell crank lever 41 in a manner to cause the cord 40 to raise the pawl 38 from engagement with the tooth 39 on the opposite side of the loom; and, when a shuttle leaves a shuttle box on one side of the loom, the arm 27 is moved into the pace previously occupied by the shuttle, by the spring 30, and the spring 50 causes the arm 49 to follow the arm 27, thereby turning the shaft 47 in a reverse direction, and lowering the arm 36 and causing it, by a reverse operation to that just described, to lower the pawl 38 into engagement with the tooth 39 on the opposite side of the loom.

During the operation of the loom, the shafts 32 and therewith the arms 36 are rocked in the directions of the arrows in Fig. 1, as previously explained; and when the rollers 72 escape the arms 70., the shafts 32 and the parts operated thereby, are returned to the position shown by the action of a spring 77, extending between and connected to the lower ends of the arms 36 and 54.

By the construction and operation of the parts hereinbefore described, it will be seen that if, during the operation of the loom, a shuttle should be presentin each of the two shuttle boxes which are in alinement with the shuttle race bar 10, the pawls 38 will be raised from engagement with the teeth 39, thereby preventing the operation of both of the picker staffs 14, and conse quently preventing the occurrence of a collision between the two shuttles. And it will also be seen that if a shuttle 31 be present in the shuttle box, which is in alinement with the shuttle race bar 10 on the left hand side of the loom, and that if no shuttle be present in the box which is in alinement with the shuttle race bar 10 on the other side of the loom, as shown in the drawings, the pawl 38 will be in engagement with the tooth 39 on the left hand side of the loom, thereby causing the shaft 32 to operate the picker stafi 14 to operate to project the shuttle 31 across the shuttle race bar 10 and into the empty shuttle box on the opposite side of the lay. And it will be seen, further, that if a shuttle be present in the box which is in alinement with the shuttle race bar 10 on the right hand side of the loom, and that if no shuttle be present in the box which is in alinement with the shuttle race bar 10 on the left hand side of the loom, the pawl 38 will be in engagement with the tooth 39 on the right hand side of the loom, thereby causing the shaft 33 to operate the picker staff 20 to operate to project the shuttle from the box on the right hand side of the loom across the shuttle race bar 10 and into the empty shuttle box on the opposite side of the lay.

1. In a loom, the combination of a lay, a shuttle box on each side thereof, a picker stalf adjacent the shuttle box on one side of the lay, a picker operated by said staff for projecting a shuttle from the adjacent shuttle box to the shuttle box on the opposite side of the lay, a shuttle binder movable into and from the space occupied by a shuttle when in the last named shuttle box,

an operating shaft, means for actuating said shaft, a rocker arm loose on said shaft and provided with a projection, means connect ing said rocker arm with the picker staff, a part fixed to said shaft adjacent said rocker arm and provided with a tooth, a pawl carried by said rocker arm, said pawl being movable into and from engagement with said tooth and being arranged to be en gaged by said tooth when said part is moved in one direction and said projection being arranged to be engaged by said part when moved in a reverse direction, and means operated by the movement of said shuttle binder from its position within its shuttle box for moving said pawl from engagement with said tooth.

2. In a loom, the combination of a lay, a shuttle box on each side thereof, a picker staff adjacent the shuttle box on one side of the lay, a picker operated by said staff for projecting a shuttle from the adjacent shuttle box to the shuttle box on the opposite side of the lay, a shuttle binder movable into and from the space occupied by a shuttle when in the last named shuttle box, an operating shaft, means for actuating said shaft, a rocker arm loose on said shaft, means connecting said rocker arm with the picker staff, a part fixed to said shaft adjacent said rocker arm and provided with a tooth, a pawl carried by said rocker arm, said pawl being movable into and from engagement with said tooth, a rock shaft provided with an arm positioned to be engaged and moved by said shuttle binder, a second arm 011 said rock shaft, a lever operated by said second arm, and means operated by said lever for moving said pawl from engagement with said tooth.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signa tures in the presence of witnesses.

MARCUS PRUSSAK. CHARLES PFEIFFER. WVitnesses J AKOB FRIDMAN,

SAM SIDMAN,

B. BEERGER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

